Poles

Hiking, trail and Nordic walking poles.

In recent years, hiking poles have become an essential part of the hiker's, walker's or traileur's toolbox.
Hiking poles offer several advantages in progression.
-They relieve the lower muscles and reduce the impact on the joints.
-The hiking and trail poles allow you to homogenize the effort by using the upper muscles of the body.
-With walking sticks, you will have a better balance, you will be able to feel the ground, lean on it and thus reduce the risk of falls and injuries.

There are three main families of walking sticks:

Hiking sticks or trekking sticks.

Hiking poles are usually telescopic with two or three strands. This allows them to be shortened and put on the bag when you don't need them. They are used both up and down. Trekking poles can be made of aluminium or carbon. There are two clamping systems: Screw and flap. The latter system is becoming more widespread because it is more reliable and practical. There are two types of handles and seats: the classic ones that will be found on Black Diamond sticks, Camp sticks and Fizan sticks. At Leki, the system is different. Leki hiking poles have the Trigger system with removable and wrap-around strap.

The trail sticks.

Trail sticks are lighter and very often made of carbon. They have a three-fold folding system with the strands held by a cable. This way they can be folded and unfolded very quickly. They are very light but also more fragile. They should not be used when descending to lean on them. Two famous models can be mentioned: the Black Diamond Distance Carbon and the Leki Micro Trail Pro. These two models of trail sticks are the most used by trailers.
There is also a separate category, the vertical kilometre running sticks. They are single stranded for greater rigidity and lightness. However, these sticks are not very practical for versatile use.

Nordic walking sticks.

Nordic walking sticks are specific. They are almost exclusively single stranded for greater performance and lightness. The higher the amount of carbon, the more efficient and light the Nordic walking stick will be. They have a specific gauntlet that frees the gesture of the wrist. At the tip of the Nordic walking stick, a rubber tip is added to provide good grip on hard ground and dampen vibrations. To find your stick size, proceed as follows:
your height in cm X 0.68.
We round up to the lower unit if we want a quiet walk and to the upper unit for a sports walk